Song in the Heart
by Miraculous-Content
Summary: Being Ladybug could be hard. Being Ladybug could be stressful. Being Ladybug could be anything on any day. But today, being Ladybug might mean that Marinette has someone to go to.


The quiet nighttime atmosphere of Paris made it seem like a completely different place from what Ladybug was used to. Now that her usual patrol with Chat was over, she found that she could truly appreciate the sights.

She didn't always like silence. Before, she preferred the background noise of a crowd or the gentle hum of a sewing machine.

But, as her time as Ladybug stretched on, the soft sounds of the night became a source of comfort. It gave the illusion that the world was at peace; an illusion she often let herself get lost in.

When everyone was asleep, they couldn't ask her for anything. When things were quiet, it meant that no one was trying to get her attention.

No people. No akuma. No expectations.

Ladybug swung freely from building to building, feeling the wind blow through her hair. The air of Paris was fresh and full of life, and she breathed it in like it was her first time experiencing it.

She looked ahead, noting that she was heading for the Seine. Recalling her yoyo, she latched it back onto her waist and landed on the pathway right next to the river. As she stared down at the water, she almost found herself feeling jealous. The water was cool and calm, and while she was relaxed at the moment, the problems facing her during the day were very real and nerve-wracking.

She sighed. It was odd, really. She'd come here to be alone, and while she was comfortable, she still somehow felt lonely.

Looking to distract herself, she looked further down the river, hoping to get lost in the seemingly endless expanse of the water. Instead, she got a surprise, her eyes even widening.

Casually being carried down the river was Anarka's boat, Liberty. Pleasant memories flowed through her mind, like watching the concert that took place there, being comforted by her friends, and...

She straightened, then glanced over both shoulders to ensure that no one was watching her. Surely, it would be fine to... just for a little while...?

Ladybug went as close to the ship as possible while still being on the pathway, then jumped. She soared through the air, being purposefully graceful when landing for the sake of being quiet. Her feet hit the ship with not even a creak.

Walking over to the side, she sat down on the makeshift bench—really, it was just an instrument case—and looked out at the city. She sighed, more blissfully this time, finding the boat's steady drift comforting.

At least, until a voice cut into the silence. "You like the view?"

She jumped, startled. She stood straight to at least give the _appearance_ of calm, then jerked her head back to find the source of the voice.

It was only Luka. She relaxed.

"Ah, hi. Yes," she said, trying to be polite without being informal. "The view's nice here, so I just—" She cleared her throat. "Sorry."

Luka shook his head, smiling. "It's all right. You can stay the whole night if you want."

She sat back down, then crossed one leg over the other, trying to look as casual as possible. "A-ah, yeah. I don't think I will, but thank you." She scratched her cheek. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Living," he teased. "This is a houseboat."

She flushed in embarrassment. She'd met Luka before as Ladybug, and Ladybug would've seen that this was a houseboat, so she shouldn't have asked. "O-oh, right. I just mean—"

He chuckled, approaching her. His hand reached for the guitar strap across his chest. "I like playing music out here, especially at night."

"Oh?" She found it hard to hold back her smile. She absolutely _adored_ Luka's music. "Well, it's really quiet tonight, so that's perfect, isn't it?"

He nodded. He glanced at the spot next to her, then back at her. She understood the motion immediately, nodding her head. As he sat next to her, she felt a certain eagerness in her chest.

She paused, wanting to consider how much she already should know about him just as Ladybug. She decided to play innocent. "So, you're..."

"Luka." He pulled his guitar to his front, preparing his pick. "And you're Ladybug. Marinette told you about my mom turning into an akuma and you saved us."

There was a warmth that came with him saying her name. "Y-yeah. That was me!"

Luka eyed her, looking at her face first and then the pose she was in. "...Your tempo's off."

Ladybug stiffened. She knew what he meant, but asked anyway, "W-what do you mean?"

"I don't have to hear the song in your heart to know that you've got a lot on your mind."

She frowned. "It's that obvious?"

Luka strummed a single note. "Don't feel bad. I'm really good at it because of my sister. People say she's not that expressive, but I made sure I could know how she's feeling all the time."

"Oh." Ladybug's expression softened. Luka was just such a nice guy. She honestly couldn't imagine a more perfect brother for Juleka. "That's amazing."

He smiled. "Big compliment coming from the superheroine of Paris."

"Well, you don't need a fancy bodysuit to be a hero," she argued. "It's people like you who keep others safe and happy. Paris wouldn't need me if everyone supported each other like you do. Akumatizations would never happen."

Luka's gaze went back to his guitar. It was subtle, but she could tell he was a little shy about the high praise.

She scooted a little closer to him, hoping he wouldn't notice. "So... um..."

He looked back at her. If he noticed her closeness, he didn't show any sign of it.

She continued, "That thing you mentioned; the song in the heart. What does it mean exactly?"

It had only just occurred to her that she'd never asked him about it before, so what better time than now? There were two different occasions that he'd been able to read her perfectly, and she'd been curious ever since.

Luka strummed another note, looking happy that she was interested. "What it means depends on the person. See, there's something about the way people move and _feel;_ it's like a song all on its own. The notes come to me and I just—" He played a small tune. "—make it so it can be heard by everyone else."

He paused, then flushed sheepishly. "Sorry. That probably doesn't make sense—"

"No, no!" she insisted. "That makes _perfect_ sense! I totally understand! It's..." She briefly touched her lips, remembering everything he'd done for her and the feeling of her lips against his cheek. "It's incredible. It's like your own superpower, right?"

He seemed surprised at first, then smiled. His embarrassment faded away as he nodded. "It's just how I do things. I'm not always great with words, so I listen to people's songs to understand them more. It's easier to deal with my own feelings that way."

"I think that's great!" She giggled. "Now if only Chat was a little more like that. My life would be _so_ much easier."

She paused, noting that Luka was staring at her oddly. Realizing what she'd just blurted out, she gasped and covered her mouth. What was she _doing,_ babbling like that to a civilian?

Luka tilted his head. "Chat? That's your partner, right?"

She faltered, all joy fading from her face as unpleasant memories surface. She covered her face with her hands, then sighed. "I'm _really_ sorry. I shouldn't be saying things like this; saying things about _him._ It's just..." She lowered his voice in hopes he wouldn't hear. " _You're so easy to talk to._ "

She hadn't thought about it before, but it was true. After her initial nerves had died down and she really got to know Luka, she found that her typical reactions to him were _far_ different from her typical reactions to Adrien. Luka was so welcoming and his tone was so gentle; talking to him was like walking inside after a cold winter's day and falling into a warm embrace.

She felt his hand against one of her own. Peeking through her fingers, she saw Luka looking at her with a concerned smile. His fingers were against the back of one of her hands, and the warmth was bleeding through her bodysuit.

"I try to be," he said softly. "Glad it works for you."

"...Y-yeah."

Luka's hand left hers and went to his guitar. He played a few notes, seemingly as a warm-up, then became quiet for a moment before he looked over at her. "Do you mind if I read you?"

"H-hm?" She blinked, bringing her hands back down to her lap. "Read me?"

Luka ran his hand along the strings of his guitar. "I'd love to play the soul of a superhero. Plus..." His gaze turned soft. "You seem like someone who wants your song to be heard."

Ladybug tensed, trying not to get emotional. Part of her knew that this was wrong—talking to a civilian for so long like this—but it was also something she didn't want to leave. Plus, Luka was right; she _did_ want to be heard.

She nodded, smiling. "Go ahead. I'd...I'd like to hear it."

Luka returned her smile. He stared at her, and while his expression didn't change, the _intensity_ of his eyes did.

She held still, worried that moving might break his concentration, presuming that was even how it worked. It was like he was staring into her very _soul,_ yet somehow, she found that she didn't mind. It was touching that he didn't explicitly look into her for the sake of politeness to a superheroine.

Luka closed his eyes for a long moment, then looked down at his guitar and began to play. As always, each note he hit was _perfection,_ like he'd played this song a million times before and had sheet music right in front of him.

Ladybug relaxed, letting herself get lost in the music. The notes drifted around her, calming her mind. The song was familiar, yet different; something she'd heard before and yet was hearing for the first time.

But then, Luka suddenly hit a bad note.

Ladybug snapped out of her trance, jarred completely out of the state he'd had her in. She glanced over at him with concern.

His hand had settled on the strings of his guitar, his expression looking surprised. His gaze was fixed downwards.

"Um... Luka?" she called. She scooted ever closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

His gaze darted over to her, staying there for a good few seconds. His eyes weren't as intense as before, yet there was something in them that made her recoil. She even retracted her hand.

Out of nowhere, Luka laughed, looking down and covering his face with his hand. "I should've known."

She immediately felt like she was missing a key piece of information. "Should've known what?"

Luka stifled his remaining laughter, then straightened. He glanced at her from the corner of his vision, smiling. "You really are full of surprises, Marinette."

"I—" Ladybug froze. _Marinette._ Had he really just said...?

She glanced at her body, just to ensure she was still Ladybug. The red and black bodysuit was still on her. She even reached up to her mask, but it was still there as well.

Luka chuckled. "Only _you_ have such a beautiful rhythm. I couldn't forget that. I could tell as soon as I played."

She flushed, momentarily brought out of her panic. "L-luka, I—"

She knew she should be even more nervous than she already was. Someone had just figured out her identity!

Yet, she found that the tightness in her chest wasn't from nerves, but from the honesty in Luka's words.

He spoke up, "It's okay."

"W-what?" She shook her head, trying to shake off her warm feelings. "No, it's not okay! You're in danger now!"

"Am I?" Luka asked, just a little bit cheekily. "Life's as dangerous as you make it."

"B-but..." Ladybug frowned. "You know my secret."

"And? No one else knows, right?" He smiled. "And no one knows that I know."

"I—" She paused for a long moment, trying to form some sort of argument. She couldn't. If someone were to know her secret, Luka was honestly far from the worst possibility. He had never been the target of an akuma attack, nor been akumatized himself, and mind-controlling akuma were few and far between, especially those whose power retained a person's memories. Plus—

"Wait..." She tilted her head. "What do you mean you should've known?"

Luka leaned back, staring up at the sky. "That power of yours..."

"The Lucky Charm?" she guessed.

He closed his eyes, stating matter-of-factly, "Only _you'd_ be creative enough to use it."

Ladybug was pretty sure her face was on fire by now. "W-what? _You're_ one to talk! You're amazing and cool and you'd make a great hero!"

Luka jerked his head over to her and blushed; a rare sight.

She groaned, hiding her face in her hands. She was _Ladybug_ right now, and yet she was being _entirely_ unprofessional!

She mentally blamed Luka; his silly sweet face made all her thoughts spill out.

...Unlike Adrien, where she'd just clam up half the time instead.

She sighed, her thoughts drawn back to her problems. Slowly, she drew her gaze back to Luka. He was looking like his gentle cool self again.

"You want to talk?" he asked.

She straightened. "Talk?"

He glanced down at his guitar. "I was secretly writing a song for my mom's birthday once. It was the _worst_ hiding it from her."

He smiled at her in good humor. "Secretly being a hero must be _something_ like that, right?"

She giggled. "Yeah, something like that."

"Do you wanna go inside?" he asked, pointing towards the nearest door. "We could sneak into my cabin and you could change back."

"Really?" She paused to consider his offer. It'd be so strange to de-transform in front of someone, but Luka already knew, so wasn't it okay?

"A-alright." She smiled. "I'd like that."

* * *

Luka's cabin was just as she'd remembered it. Warm, inviting, and filled to the brim with his personality.

Ladybug took a breath, steeling herself up. "Tikki, de-transform me."

A light engulfed her, starting at her feet and rising up as it returned her to her civilian state. As it dissipated along her head, Tikki fluttered out, but gaped when she saw Luka standing in front of her.

"Tikki, it's okay," Marinette assured softly. She reached into her purse, pulling out a cookie. "Here. Can you leave us to talk for a while?"

Tikki took the cookie, but didn't move. "Marinette..." she began unsurely.

Luka gave a reassuring smile, which was apparently enough as Tikki soon flew off. Marinette imagined that she'd have to explain the concept of kwami to Luka eventually, but that could wait.

Luka turned, sitting down on his bed and patting the spot next to him. Marinette sat down and let herself relax.

She stared at the floor, not quite ready to make eye contact when she was going to go into such an emotional subject. She could feel Luka's eyes on her, but knew he'd be patient. He gave her as long as she needed to speak up.

"...I love being Ladybug, but it's really hard sometimes," she admitted. "Everyone expects me to be perfect."

Luka hadn't even responded yet, but she felt a sense of comfort. Being able to talk to someone who wasn't Tikki made everything feel easier.

"...That's not true," Luka said.

Marinette looked over at him, confused.

"I'm not no one, and I don't expect you to be perfect." He ran his hand along his guitar. "I made some great music just by accidentally messing up on a few notes. Mistakes aren't all bad."

Marinette's expression softened. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He played a short tune. "So you don't have to worry about it. I think anyone who tells you that you have to do _everything_ right deserves a—"

He played a rough chord on his guitar.

Marinette laughed. "Thanks."

A brief memory of Chat crossed her mind. She frowned again.

"...Something else?" Luka asked softly, taking his guitar off and laying it down on the bed.

"Yeah." Marinette chewed at her bottom lip at first, feeling weird talking about it yet wanting to. "It's Chat. He's my friend and partner, but I just don't love him like he loves me."

She covered her face. "I think it makes him really mad sometimes. I rejected him again recently and he didn't even want to search for the akuma with me. It's ruining our teamwork, but I don't know what else to do."

She waited for a response, but when she got none, she moved her hands and looked over at Luka.

He was holding his hand out to her, offering his comfort. She hesitated, then slid her hand into his. He gripped her hand gently, smiling at her with a sense that he understood.

"That's not your fault, Marinette," he assured. "We can't help how we feel."

The words were full of sympathy, and she let herself get absorbed in every ounce of it. Chat was a good partner—a _great_ partner even—and she wouldn't trade him for the world. Yet, he seemed incapable of separating his feelings from whatever situation they were in. She'd tried so hard to make it clear that she was in love with someone else, yet he continued to pursue her. How could he not see how she felt?

Meanwhile, Luka was the exact opposite. He saw, heard, and _played_ exactly how she felt. If anything, _she_ wasn't being fair to _him._ She couldn't even understand how he could just be so _passive_ to his own feelings. He always seemed to be worried about her or everyone else's problems; never his own.

The thought briefly drew forth memories of her time at the ice rink. She glanced up at him.

"...Luka? That, um, reminds me." She tightened her grip on his hand. "When we were leaving the rink, you told me to go talk to Adrien."

There was a look on his face that she couldn't identify.

She continued, "Y-you knew, didn't you? That I liked Adrien."

He didn't answer at first. Then, he nodded slowly.

She frowned, feeling a painful tug at her heartstrings. "So then… why did you let me go?"

She loved Luka. She couldn't deny that, but she loved Adrien too.

Yet, Adrien saw her as just a friend. She was happy being friends with him, but couldn't help wondering if her love life was doomed forever. Could she even hope that—

She stiffened as Luka squeezed her hand back.

"Your heart was listening to someone else's song," Luka replied. "I couldn't get in the way of that."

Marinette gaped, her chest feeling tight. Was that...

Was that a confession?

Luka just kept smiling, even if it was strained. It wasn't fair.

Marinette felt herself getting choked up. "...L-luka..."

She slowly reached for his shoulder, settling her hand on it. She met his gaze, as if asking permission. When he nodded, she leaned forwards.

She touched her forehead and nose to his, relishing in the warmth. She got an immediate response, Luka gently leaning forward as a sign of comfort.

For a second, she could swear that she could hear the song in his heart; a soft, gorgeous melody that wrapped gently around her.

She sighed blissfully. "C-can we do this again? Talk? Just the two of us? Even when I'm Ladybug?"

She felt his warm hands on her shoulders. Her heart was beating so fast.

He leaned into her. "Of course we can."

Marinette felt his arms moving around her. She eagerly leaned down to his chest, embracing him in return.

The soft fabric of his shirt rubbed against her cheek. His body heat radiated off of him and she graciously accepted it. She'd never felt so relaxed in her whole life.

She ran her hand along his back, smiling. "Do you like this song better?" she asked softly.

Luka chuckled, burying his face in her hair to respond.

Marinette sighed happily. She'd let go of her worries for today.

That was the magic of Luka's superpower.


End file.
